Rigid container

ABSTRACT

A rigid container for containing articles, preferably articles in the form of a tube, extending along a main axis including a top wall, a bottom wall and a plurality of side walls connected to each other in series and extending from the top wall to the bottom wall; said rigid container includes at least one connecting wall connecting two respective side walls and at least four side walls connected to one another in pairs by a respective fold line.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a rigid container.

In particular, rigid container refers to a carton for containing articles and, more precisely, articles in the form of a tube containing, by way of example and without restricting the scope of the invention, toothpaste, mayonnaise or edible pastes in general.

BACKGROUND ART

The articles are usually sold in the respective carton, since such cartons substantially have the shape of a parallelepiped, allowing practical transportation of the articles contained in them and their positioning in points of sale or in storage warehouses.

The general impression of the article contained in the carton is therefore given by what is illustrated and shown on the outer faces of the carton, which take on fundamental importance for advertising purposes.

To increase the available surface area for marketing information, the cartons could be made increasingly larger, however, this would result in higher production costs linked to the material used to make the carton or rigid container.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The aim of this invention is to provide a rigid container with relatively limited dimensions for holding the respective article inside it and which at the same time has a large outer face on which more information can be positioned.

A further aim of this invention is to provide a container with at least one large outer face which is also substantially rigid for containing articles in the form of a tube.

This invention achieves that aim with a rigid container, extending along a main axis, comprising a top wall and a bottom wall which are positioned along a direction transversal to said axis, and a plurality of side walls connected to each other in series and extending from the top wall to the bottom wall.

Advantageously, the rigid container comprises at least one connecting wall connecting two respective side walls, and at least four side walls connected to one another in pairs by a respective fold line.

The connecting line, together with the side walls with which it is connected, allows the formation of a single continuous front face on which marketing information can be positioned.

The two fold lines which connect respective side walls allow easy insertion of the article in the container.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

This invention is described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a non-limiting embodiment and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view, in a closed condition, of a first embodiment of a rigid container made according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view, in an open condition, of the rigid container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the rigid container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view, in a closed condition, of a second embodiment of a rigid container made according to this invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view, in an open condition, of the rigid container of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the rigid container of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The numeral 1 denotes a rigid container for containing articles 2.

Preferably, the articles 2 are articles 2 in the form of a tube.

Articles 2 in the form of a tube refers to bodies which are deformable when pressed, having a substantially cylindrical shape, converging at one end of the body.

By way of example and without thereby limiting the scope of the invention, the articles 2 in the form of a tube may contain in general, toothpaste, mayonnaise, tomato concentrate paste or other foodstuffs.

The rigid container 1 extends along a main axis 1 a.

In particular, the container 1 extends mainly longitudinally along said axis 1 a.

The container 1 comprises a top wall 3 and a bottom wall 4, which are positioned according to a direction transversal to said axis 1 a.

More precisely, the top wall 3 and the bottom wall 4 are walls which are parallel to each other.

The top wall 3 and the bottom wall 4 are orthogonal to the axis 1 a of the container 1.

The container 1 comprises a plurality of side walls 5, 6, 7, 8 connected to each other in series.

The side walls 5, 6, 7, 8 are positioned according to a direction parallel to said axis 1 a.

In particular, the side walls 5, 6, 7, 8 extend from the top wall 6 to the bottom wall 4.

In the alternative embodiments described, the container 1 comprises four side walls 5, 6, 7, 8.

Said side walls 5, 6, 7, 8 are arranged in pairs parallel and opposite each other relative to the axis 1 a.

Advantageously, the container 1 comprises at least one connecting wall 9 connecting two respective side walls 5, 6. In particular, at least two adjacent side walls are connected by one or more connecting walls 9.

The container 1 also comprises at least four side walls 5, 6, 7, 8 which are connected to one another in pairs by a respective fold line 11, 13 when they are not connected by the above-mentioned connecting wall.

In particular, each connecting wall 9, 10 is a wall connecting two respective side walls 5, 6 and 7, 8.

More precisely, each connecting wall 9, 10 has an arc of a circle profile.

According to an embodiment not illustrated, each connecting wall 9, 10 is a flat wall joining two respective side walls 5, 6 and 7, 8. In that embodiment, the connecting wall 9, 10 is angled relative to the respective side walls 5, 6 and 7, 8 to which it is connected.

Advantageously, the fold lines 11, 13 allow easy insertion of the article 2 in the container 1.

In fact, considering a cross-section of the container 1, the article 2 is inserted in the container 1 along the diagonal 16 joining said fold lines 11, 13, said diagonal 16 defining the larger dimension of said cross-section.

This is advantageous because the articles 2 in the form of a tube are inserted in the container 2 along said diagonal 16.

In particular and preferably, the side walls connected to each other along a respective fold line 11, 12 and 13 are orthogonal to one another.

According to a first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the container 1 comprises a connecting wall 9 which connects two respective side walls 5, 6 and three fold lines 11, 12, 13 each of which connects two respective side walls 6, 7 and 7, 8 and 8, 6.

More precisely, two fold lines 11, 13 are positioned opposite one another relative to the axis 1 a of the container 1.

The opposite fold lines 11, 13 form said diagonal 16 preferred for insertion of the article 2 in the container 1.

The remaining fold line 12 is positioned opposite the connecting wall 9 and is located between the two fold lines 11, 13 which are opposite one another.

The connecting wall 9 connects two respective side walls 5, 6 each of which is positioned between the wall 9 itself and a respective fold line 11, 13.

In that embodiment, a fold line 12 is positioned opposite the connecting wall 9 relative to the axis 1 a of the container 1.

In a second embodiment, shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the container 1 comprises two connecting walls 9 and 10 connecting two respective side walls 5, 6 and 7, 8 and two fold lines 11, 13 each connecting two respective side walls 6, 7 and 8, 5.

More precisely, the two connecting walls 9, 10 are positioned opposite each other relative to the axis 1 a of the container 1 and the two fold lines 11, 12 are positioned opposite each other relative to the axis 1 a of the container 1.

In this way, each connecting wall 9, 10 alternates with a respective fold line 11, 12.

In this case too, the opposite fold lines 11, 13 form said diagonal 16 preferred for insertion of the article 2 in the container 1.

According to the first and the second embodiment of the container 1, the connecting wall 9, together with the two respective side walls 5, 6 with which it is connected, allows the formation of a single continuous front face 14 on which marketing information can be positioned, such as advertising messages or information.

It should be noticed that according to the second embodiment, one connecting wall 9, together with the two respective side walls with which it is connected, allows the formation of a single continuous front face 14 and the other connecting wall 10, together with the two respective side wall 6, 7 with which it is connected, allows the formation of a single continuous rear face 15.

The continuous front face 14 and the continuous rear face 15 are positioned opposite one another relative to the axis 1 a.

Advantageously, marketing information, such as advertising messages or information can be positioned on the continuous front face 14 and on the rear face 15.

The container 1 comprises at least one container 1 opening and closing panel 17 which forms one of either the top wall 3 or the bottom wall 4.

Said panel 17 is hinged to a respective side wall 5 of the container 1.

In particular, said panel 17 is connected to one of the side walls 5 which is connected to the connecting wall 9.

The connection of the panel 17 to a side walls 5 which is connected to the connecting wall 9 allows the whole container to be stiffened. In fact, the panel 17 prevents the container from collapsing relative to the two opposite fold lines which form the weakest structural portion.

The hinged panel 17 comprises an engaging tab 18 which allows the hinged panel 17 to be held in the container 1 closed condition.

The top wall 3 or the bottom wall 4 may respectively be formed by at least two panels which are superposed and connected to one another, preferably by an adhesive substance, each of which is hinged to a respective side wall 5, 6, 7, 8.

The rigid container 1 is made of a foldable material forming said walls 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Preferably, foldable material refers to a flat blank made of paperboard or plastic-coated paperboard.

Alternatively, foldable material refers to a flexible material of polymeric origin.

The container 1 according to this invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art and brings important advantages.

In fact, the presence of at least a continuous front face 14 allows an increase in the surface area of the container 1 available for advertising images or information, without increasing the size of the container 1 itself, giving a considerable saving in terms of costs linked to the foldable material. In fact, given the presence of at least one connecting wall 9, 10, the container 1 according to this invention has a cross-section relative to the axis of extension 1 a which is limited compared to the cross-section of prior art parallelepiped containers, giving a significant saving in terms of the foldable material.

Moreover, the continuous front face 14 allows continuous, that is to say, uninterrupted, illustrations or information to be applied on it, since the continuous front face 14 has no clearly defined edges, meaning that the container 1 is more attractive to potential buyers. 

1. A rigid container made of foldable material for articles which are in the form of a tube, extending along a main axis and comprising a top wall, a bottom wall and at least four side walls connected to each other in series and extending from the top wall to the bottom wall; at least two of said adjacent side walls being connected by one or more connecting walls; the container wherein said side walls not connected by a connecting wall are connected to one another in pairs by a respective fold line, each fold line being formed by two respective side walls connected to one another and positioned orthogonally relative to each other; said container comprising at least two fold lines positioned opposite one another relative to the main axis of the container; the connecting wall connecting two side walls each of which is positioned between the connecting wall and a respective fold line; said container comprising at least one container opening and closing panel; the panel forming one of either the top wall or the bottom wall of the container; said panel being connected to one of the side walls which is connected to a connecting wall.
 2. The container according to claim 1, wherein it comprises a connecting wall and three fold lines, two of said fold lines being positioned opposite one another relative to the main axis of the container and the remaining fold line being positioned opposite said connecting wall and located between said two fold lines which are opposite each other.
 3. The container according to claim 1, wherein it comprises two connecting walls positioned opposite each other relative to the main axis of the container and two fold lines positioned opposite each other relative to the main axis of the container; each connecting wall alternating with a respective fold line.
 4. The container according to claim 1, wherein it is a container which extends mainly longitudinally along said main axis.
 5. The container according to claim 1, wherein said panel is a panel hinged to a respective side wall of the container.
 6. The container according to claim 1, wherein each connecting wall, together with the two respective side walls with which it is connected, allows the formation of a single continuous face, in particular a front face and a rear face. 